This is the HOTV Brewsletter
VOLUME XXII, NUMBER 6
June 2002
PRESIDENT:
Royal Willard
(541) 752-1314
VICE PRESIDENT:
Scott Leonard
(541) 752-0780
NEWSLETTER EDITOR:
Kendall Staggs
(541) 753-6538
CLUB TREASURER:
Lee Smith
(541) 926-2286
FESTIVAL DIRECTOR:
Joel Rea
(541) 758-1674
THIS MONTH'S MEETING
The Heart of the Valley Homebrew Club meets on the third Wednesday of
each month, alternating between Corvallis and Albany. Our next meeting
will be Wednesday, June 19, at 7:00 p.m. at the home of Lee and Helen
Smith. Their address is 2190 Maier Lane in North Albany. Their phone
number is 926-2286.
Here are directions to Lee's house:
From Corvallis: Take Highway 20 to Scenic Drive. Go left to Gibson
Hill Road (stop sign). Go right to Skyline Drive. Go right to Maier
Lane. Go left to the address sign on the tree (2190). Go right to last
house. It's OK to park on the grass.
From Albany: Take Highway 20 to North Albany Road. Turn right. North
Albany Road curves left and becomes Gibson Hill Road. Go to Skyline
Drive and turn left. Turn left at Maier Lane. Go right at the sign on
the tree (2190). See above.
The post-festival meeting at Lee's is always a treat. The setting is
beautiful and there are lots of places to hang out, inside and outside.
There will be plenty of leftover homebrew from the festival, and Lee
encourages us to be prepared to take some home with us at the end of the
evening. Lee adds, "Helen will be serving a chicken, shrimp, and tasso
(cajun ham) jambalaya. We'll also have some hot dogs that were leftover
from a previous function. We still have about a quarter barrel of
Bridgeport IPA left, all the more reason not to bring a lot of beer.
See you in a couple of weeks."
SUMMARY OF THE 2002 OREGON HOMEBREW FESTIVAL
by Joel Rea
Mixed emotions are flying about the 20th Annual Oregon Homebrew Festival
and,
depending upon who you talk to, there might be different reasons. This
year we only had 215 entries, which is down from previous year's entries
when we averaged 325. Bummer-for a couple of reasons. It's
discouraging to be down from last year; one of our measures of success
for the club has been the number of entries in our spring event. Many
club members work hard at putting on the festival and it is a letdown to
have fewer entries. It's also painful from a financial standpoint
because over the last several years we have really built up the festival
to the point of relying on it as the club's a major source of revenue.
This year we will be lucky to make a buck off the festival. Our overall
expenses were less than last year, but this year we made less because we
were short $750 in entry fees. In recent festivals we have had three or
four persons who have submitted 15 to 25 entries each. These power
hitters did not participate this year and this had a direct impact on
our revenue. Their absence, however, made it possible for many new
brewers to win awards, and that may bode well for the future viability
of the competition.
We also saw something of a shortfall from the raffle. Although it is
impossible to lose money on a raffle featuring all donated items, we did
not make as much as we have made in the past. I can only blame a
slumped economy to explain why we had fewer donations and fewer raffle
ticket purchases.
We had a great festival, though. There were some wonderful beers
entered and several people new to our hobby participated in judging and
running the show. I would like to thank once again all of the committee
members who helped tirelessly to make the festival run smoothly: Mare,
for rounding up a great crew of judges; Lee, for making everything
happen behind-the-scenes; Matt, for doing a smack-up job stewarding;
Kendall, for putting on another great judge training seminar; Dave, for
keeping all of the entries in the right order; Derek, for slinging up
some great grub; Eugene, for putting up with registration at his brewery
and for providing beer trailer services; Christina, for keeping the beer
pouring free and secure; Royal, for putting on a solid raffle. And
thanks to everyone else who stepped in to help with stewarding, judging,
registering the beers, setting up, and cleaning up!
The flow of the festival went very smoothly-in part because there were
only 215 entries. I felt everyone had a great time and it was
beneficial to end the main judging just after noon, which allowed us an
opportunity to eat lunch, drink a few pints together, and then listen to
Jamie Floyd's discussion on the Oregon Brewers Guild. We were cleaned
up and departed from the fairgrounds by 4:30.
On May 29 we held a festival committee wrap-up meeting that lasted about
two hours. We discussed next year's event and how to make the Oregon
Homebrewers Festival more solvent. During our next regular club
meeting, at Lee Smith's house, we will further discuss next year's
festival and what form and shape it should take. If you are interested
at all in how this festival will take place I would strongly encourage
you to attend and express your views. The more input there is from
members, the more successful next year's festival will be!
JUNE LITTER PICK-UP
by Lee Smith
Our June litter pick-up is set for Saturday, the 15th. As always, we
will meet at Hyak Park at 11:00 a.m. and spread out from there. Six
lucky respondents will get first use of our new grabber tools (thanks,
members, for approving this expense) and two of us will make do with the
old ones. I promise a nice day and better-than-average refreshments.
Please reply by e-mail or call 926-2286. Thanks.
COMMERCIAL BEER REVIEWS
by Kendall Staggs
A TASTE OF GERMANY ON THE WEST COAST
German-style Ales are rare in galaxy of domestic craft beers, but here
are five West Coast brews that claim a German lineage. All of these are
available at Shop Ôn' Go on Van Buren in Corvallis.
1 Widmer Sommerbräu, Widmer Brewing Company, Portland, Oregon
From the Widmer website: "Sommerbräu is crisp, refreshing, and slightly
dry with a hint of hop flavor and aroma. It's proof that a lighter beer
can also be a flavorful beer." I agree with all that; it is certainly a
good summer beer. But it advertises itself as a "Golden Kölsch Beer,"
and I don't think it quite measures up as a true Kölsch. It needs a
different yeast strain to achieve that distinction.
Alcohol: 4.8 percent by volume
Bitterness: 26 IBU
Pale and Wheat malts
Spalter Select aroma and bittering hops
2 Alaskan Summer Ale, Alaskan Brewing Company, Juneau, Alaska
From the Alaskan website: "Alaskan Summer Ale balances a softly malted
palate with the clean freshness of German Hallertauer hops. The
straw-gold color and easy drinkability are an enjoyable way to celebrate
summer." Once again, this is advertised as a Kölsch-style ale. It is
light, easy to drink, and flavorful. But missing are the
characteristics of a true Kölsch, which include yeasty notes and fairly
substantial body.
Alcohol: 5 percent by volume
Bitterness: 27 IBU
Pale and Munich malts
Hallertauer hops
3 Curve Ball Kölsch-Style Ale, Pyramid Brewing Company, Seattle
From the Pyramid website: "Inspired by the traditional Kölsch-style
beers of Cologne, Germany, Curve Ball boasts a clean, crisp, slightly
herbal taste and a lighter body." Here's the real deal. I have only
had a few Kölsches from Germany (and a few award-winning homebrewed
versions), but this one seems very true to style, and that includes a
whiff of sulfur in the nose that can only come from the right yeast
strain. It is a very good summer beer, and great with sandwiches.
Original Gravity: 1.045
Alcohol: 4.8 percent by volume
Two-Row Barley malt, malted Wheat
Vanguard and Perle hops
4 Uncle Otto's Weissbier, Portland Brewing Company, Portland, Oregon
From the Portland Brewing website: "Uncle Otto's Weiss Beer [is] an
authentic German Wheat Beer on par with Munich's finest. This new
spring and summer seasonal is made with a remarkable yeast
[Weihenstephan] that imparts complex overtones of banana and clove."
The site goes on to say that the beer was named "Weissbier" in an effort
to differentiate it from the "rather bland American-style Hefeweizens,"
adding "They're completely different beers." Brewmaster Alan Kornhauser
says, "This is one of the few beers in which yeast is critical to
flavor." I would argue that yeast is critical to the flavor of many
beer styles, but agree that it is essential to an authentic Bavarian
Weizenbier. True to their word, the folks at Portland Brewing have
produced a very flavorful example, one that is reminiscent of the
Paulaner Hefeweizen, with exaggerated banana notes in the aroma and
taste. Congratulations to the brewers.
Pale Two-Row malt, Northwest Winter Wheat
Tettnang hops
5 Sudwerk Hefe Weizen, Sudwerk Privatbrauerei Hübsch, Davis, California
From the Sudwerk website: "A Bavarian-style unfiltered wheat beer with
a light fruity taste and a slightly spicy finish." This is a more
balanced version of the style, with more of the clove-like spiciness
reminiscent of the best Bavarian brands. I really liked this one; in
fact it is one of the best American interpretations of a German
Weizenbier available. Skip the lemon. Enjoy all its subtleties of this
beer.
50 percent Pale Two-Row malt, 50 percent Wheat.
Hallertauer hops
